The next night, Kelly brought Abi to a bar, as promised. Kelly was a party girl so she was well acquainted with what went on inside these bars. She was reluctant to take Abi but the girl insisted, so there they were, in a dark, smoky bar, about to join the crowd of people who were there mostly looking to have a good time.
They walked through the corridor, their shoes sticking to the ground with every step - the remnants of alcohol spilled on the floor from the night before. As they waded their way through the sticky path, Kelly couldn't help but ask her friend again. "Abi, are you sure about this?"
"Yes." Abi's response was quick and to the point. There was no hesitation.
Kelly sighed. She had never seen her friend be this stubborn before! "Make sure to stay beside me inside the bar, okay?" she could only warn.
"Okay."
The corridor opened into a large double storey area. The place was already quite crowded with about the same amount of women as there were men. Most of the people were leaning over the bar, which was situated on the left side of the room, trying to catch the bartender's attention to purchase some much needed alcohol.
Abi's first impression of a bar was that it was quite dirty, but after a few drinks in them, people probably wouldn't care too much about hygiene, she guessed. She looked around and saw that the place attracted all sorts of different people. There were some wild looking people, with lots of piercings and tattoos, but then she looked up to the second storey and that seemed to be filled with more mature guests in business suits.
"Come here, Abi. It's too crowded down here. I'm afraid some bastard will grope you," said Kelly, as she grabbed Abi's wrist.
Kelly had looked around and determined that the ground floor was too crowded for her to protect Abi. The second storey looked less chaotic than the ground floor, so she dragged Abi through the crowded dance floor and up the stairs.
Abi could only follow her best friend's lead.
The upstairs area was definitely quieter with people mostly minding their own business or looking down at the chaos on the ground floor with interest. Abi felt that these people who were watching the goings on the ground floor were looking for their next prey and she couldn't help the slight shiver of repulsion that came over her.
Kelly found a quiet corner for them to sit in and it looked clean as well - a rare find indeed. She walked over to the bar - yes, there was another bar on that level - and bought them a couple of drinks.
Unbeknownst to both of them, there was a certain male sitting in his own secluded corner, who immediately recognized Abi. He took his cellphone from his pocket and started to dial a number.
The receiver picked up after just three rings.
"What is it?" the person on the other end of the phone sounded impatient.
"It looks like a little lamb just walked into the wolves' den," he cryptically said knowing full well the other person on the line would know exactly what he was talking about. He hung up straight away not bothering with farewells and continued to nurse his drink, all the while, keeping an eye on the little lamb and her hooligan friend.
Meanwhile, at the corner booth, Kelly was giving her friend some advice.
"Abi, you're not used to this place so I think for now, why don't you just observe first, okay? If you don't like being here, just tell me and we can go, alright?"
"Okay, don't mind me, Kelly. Go and I'll watch from here."
Kelly ventured out into the crowd and made her way to the bar to buy them some drinks. The bar was full of people and there was a huge line, unfortunately, so Kelly would have to wait a while to get their drinks. While she waited, she glanced in Abi's direction and was relieved that she followed her advice and just observed. She turned her attention back to the bar menu and thought about which drink Abi might like and if she should get some nibbles too, so she didn't see a waiter approach Abi and give her a drink.
Abi, not knowing how things worked, thought that Kelly must have asked him to give her the drink, so she took it without question. She sipped at it and she threw a disgusted look at the drink bottle. 'Really? This is what people like to drink?' she thought.
On the other corner of the bar, Alexander sat down next to the caller and his eyes immediately picked her out from the crowd. He saw that Abi was by herself, that a waiter had given her a drink and that she took a sip of that drink. It was obvious to him that this was her first time in a bar by the way she was looking around the place. And it was also blatantly obvious that that was the first time she tasted alcohol by the disgusted look on her face after she took a sip.
In his mind, she was like a lost angel who had mistakenly walked into the realm of devils. She looked so innocent and vulnerable that he was sure that it wouldn't be long before she attracted some sleazy, worthless trash of a man who would look at her as easy prey.
In the next second, his prediction came true. A man in an expensive suit walked up to her table and started speaking to her. His beady eyes looked her up and down and he could practically see the drool falling from the corner of the man's lips.
The moment he saw the man extend his hand towards Abi, Alex aura blazed with hellfire!